Student Safety

Being Prepared

Duval County Public Schools is dedicated to the safety of all children, and we've put strong measures in place to keep your children safe, including conducting regular drills for emergency preparedness.

Florida passed a law in 2018 requiring all schools to conduct active assailant drills. These drills are intended to educate students in an age-appropriate way how to react in the event that there is a threat of danger at one of our schools. To better prepare our children for the drills, we have asked for permission from Pinellas County Schools to use their safety video series. We will also use a resource from Hillsborough County in middle and high schools.

These are age-appropriate videos for students based on national best practice provided by the Department of Homeland Security. In addition, all students will participate in school-wide drills designed to provide practice, so our students will be better prepared and know what to do in an actual emergency.

We understand that some parents of elementary school students may not want their children to experience these videos, particularly if the child has been through past trauma. Therefore, we will provide parents and guardians of elementary school students with a process to opt their children out of these videos.

All of the videos are posted here so that caregivers can make an informed decision. A letter is expected to go to all elementary school parents in the month of September providing the process for opting a child out of these videos.

Duval County Public Schools will not show videos to students in kindergarten through second grade.